Stuck
by tomboy101
Summary: Lily Evans was having a perfectly good Friday during her seventh year at Hogwarts, that is until Sirius Black came along with one of his many schemes. Now she's stuck in a cupboard with James Potter. Poor boy. And Sirius' reason for putting his best mate in danger? "It seemed like fun."


**Tomboy:**** this was written as part of a fic exchange at ****hpfanfictionprompts on tumblr****. This is the first time I have ever written any **_Harry Potter _**fanfiction with a LilyXJames pairing as the main focus. I hope I did alright. Please let me know what you think, reviews are always appreciated.**

_**Summary:**_**Lily Evans was having a perfectly good Friday during her seventh year at Hogwarts, that is until Sirius Black came along with one of his many schemes. Now she's stuck in a cupboard with James Potter. Poor boy. And Sirius' reason for putting his best mate in danger? "It seemed like fun."**

* * *

Lily Vivian Evans had started the day like any other. She had gotten up, dressed, pinned her Head Girl badge to her chest, chatted happily with her dorm mates, eaten breakfast, gone to her morning classes—Double Potions (with the Slytherins, yuck!) and Charms (with the Hufflepuffs who were always nice)—turned in her homework, avoided Snape, eaten lunch with her friends. Yes, everything that day had gone much like any other Friday of her seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What she had not taken into account was Sirius-sodding-Black. It was his entire fault, really, that she was in her current situation.

What situation you ask? Well, that is a question easily answered. You see, she had been on her way back to Gryffindor Tower after lunch for her free period when Black decided that it was his mission of the day to make her both miserable and so embarrassed she wanted nothing more than to cover her head with a paper bag. His dastardly plan? Lock her in a broom cupboard with his best friend, James Whatever-His-Middle-Name-Is Potter.

The only remotely positive thing about this turn of events was that Black had chosen to pull this silly, stupid little stunt this year when she was on semi-amicable terms with Potter rather than any other year when she and Potter probably would have had a row so loud the villagers in Hogsmeade would have heard it. As it was, they rarely ever got into such cataclysmic fights anymore. Ever since Potter had been named Head Boy to her Head Girl this year they had often been forced to collaborate when performing their Head duties. The result was they had been getting on better these past few months than in all their previous years at Hogwarts combined (not to mention the manifestation of certain…_feelings_…on her—not that she would ever, and she meant never ever, not in a million years ever, tell anyone, ever).

So there she was minding her own business on her way back to Gryffindor Tower when Black decided to execute his underhanded scheme.

Lily had screamed when she had suddenly found herself being pushed sideways into an open door, closely followed by another, larger body and when the door had slammed shut behind them she had called Black every bad name in the book. This outburst of her famous redhead temper had Potter—the other, larger body—looking at her in surprise and mild respect. She had flushed so red she was sure she matched her hair, not that Potter would have been able to see as it was so dark.

That was how she was came to be trapped in a broom closet standing front to front with Potter in a space so small she couldn't move and their chests were almost touching. Potter had already tried the door using force and she had tried Alohamora but to no avail, the door was locked tight from the outside, probably with a spell. Whatever she might think of Black there was no denying he knew his wandwork.

"This was your idea, wasn't it Potter?" she spat when she finally calmed down enough to form coherent words again.

"N-no!" James stuttered. "I swear, I didn't tell him to do this! It was all his idea!" His big stupid hazel eyes behind his stupid round spectacles looked at her pleadingly, begging her to believe him—or at least that was what she imagined they were doing. Again, she couldn't see more than two inches past her nose.

Lily huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. The result was her left arm hitting a can of Magical Mess Remover. It crashed to the floor and burst. She shrieked and jumped back but, as the cupboard was maybe three feet wide and full of cleaning supplies, there was no room and she knocked into a bunch of broomsticks leaning against the farthest wall. They clattered to the floor.

"Might I suggest you not move?"

Lily could practically hear that big, stupid, adorable grin that lit up his whole—_No_, she quickly chastised herself, _this is Potter! Potter! There is absolutely nothing 'adorable' about him!_ Her cheeks flaming an even deeper shade of red now—if that was at all possible—Lily narrowed her bright green eyes at where she thought Potter's face might be. "This all your stupid mate's fault we're stuck in here!" she snapped.

"Now, now, Lilykins," James said sagely, in that same amused tone. "You can't shove off all the blame on Sirius. If I'm not mistaken it was _your_ cousin who pushed me in here."

"What?" Lily squeaked. Her cousin, _her own cousin_, had plotted against her to trap her in a _broom closet_ with Potter?! _Ooh! That traitorous little—_

Lily stopped making her mental list of how best to get back at Jasmine and Black when the soft glow of wandlight permeated their dark little prison. Potter had managed to maneuver himself so he had his back pressed up against the door. He held his wand up between them and the light from the softly glowing tip illuminating their faces. For the first time Lily could see his dancing hazel eyes behind round glasses. Unfortunately, that also meant Potter could see how dark she was blushing which only made her blush even more. Lily was sure that her face looked like she had spent the day at the beach without sunscreen by now and quickly made a point to look anywhere but at him.

Silence stretched between them. Finally Lily couldn't take it any longer—she hated complete silence even more than she hated cockroaches—and she said, "Why did they lock us in here? What do they think we are going to do?"

James shrugged. "Dunno. This is Sirius and Jasmine we're talking about." While the messy haired Head Boy wasn't exactly complaining about being trapped in a broom closet with the Love of His Life he wasn't exactly thrilled about being locked in a broom closet. He stood just a little over six feet and while he didn't have to stoop so as not to his head there still wasn't a lot of room. Plus, his wand arm was starting to burn slightly from holding his wand up for so long despite the muscles he earned through Quidditch.

Lily snorted. "Then _what_, exactly, was Black's plan, assuming he had one at all?"

James smiled lopsidedly down at the redhead; she really was very beautiful, even with her hair starting to come out its braid and Magical Mess Remover splattered on the hem of her school robes. "Maybe they want us to snog," he suggested cheerfully.

"Ha," Lily laughed sarcastically, "only when dragons become vegetarians."

"Well," James said, ignoring the twinge of his heart at Lily's words, "maybe they want us to…" his voice faded out as he tried to think of a reasonable reason—_reasonable reason_, he mentally chuckled—for their current situation. Obviously he didn't have any luck, this _was_ Jasmine and Sirius after all. They were the two most unreasonable people he had ever met and this included Lily in a rage with fire coming out her mouth and steam out her ears.

"To what?" Lily asked, popping her hip out as she shifted her weight again. James snapped out of his thoughts at the movement. He swallowed hard at the sight of the curve of her waist, his eyes moving of their own accord as they traced her slim figure and the way her crossed arms accentuated certain…things. Sometimes he swore she did it just to torture him.

"They can't say they put us in here to get us to stop fighting. We haven't had a good row since the beginning of term. Besides, for Black our rows are better than the telly," Lily continued, completely clueless to poor James' inner struggle.

James looked owlishly down at her. "The what?" he asked, having only caught the tail-end of what she said.  
"If you paid attention in class you would know, Potter," she replied.

James blinked in surprise. If he didn't know better he would have sworn she had just teased him. He decided to test that theory. "Well excuse me, Miss Perfect," he said with a role of his eyes and a grin.

Lily flipped her braid over her shoulder. "At least you acknowledge it," she said, green eyes sparkling.

James couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing. "Blimey, Evans," he finally managed to get out, "who knew you had a sense of humor?"

"Lots of people know," Lily said with a shrug, a slight smile pulling up the corners of her lips. "Remus does, and so does Jazz and Mary and Alice."

"I didn't and I don't think Sirius does," James said, still chuckling.

"Maybe there was a reason for that."

James frowned, instantly sobering up. "What do you mean?" he asked. He scrutinized the five feet, five inches tall girl standing less than a foot away.

Lily sighed. This was, honestly, the heart of the matter. When they had first met she hadn't liked Potter because he and Black had made fun of her friend. Of course, Snape hadn't exactly been an angel on that day either, and she could have easily forgiven Potter, even come to like him as a friend and fellow Gryffindor, but Potter was one for making snap judgments and once made he stuck to them. _He's a lot like Severus that way_, Lily mused. The judgment he had made regarding her closest friend coming into Hogwarts led him to bully Snape mercilessly and she couldn't forgive that. Besides, Potter and her had barely even talked, let alone been friends, when he suddenly decided to make it his life mission to harass her under the pretense of trying to get a date.

"It's just that you don't really know all that much about me," Lily said with a shrug, "and yet you claim to love me."

"I do know you," James protested.

Lily shook her head. "No, James," she said kindly, "you know what everyone else in the castle knows, that I get good marks and am muggle-born."

"I know that you have a redhead's temper, you're left-handed, you love Shakespeare—whoever that is—and your favorite flowers are violets," James countered.

"Do you know _why_ my favorite flowers are violets?"

James frowned. "Well…not exactly…"

The kind smile on Lily's face was worse than her yelling, he couldn't bear to see it and looked down. James didn't know what to say. He loved her so much and here she was telling him that he didn't know her well enough to love her, but he did! And everything he didn't know about her he _wanted_ to know. He wanted to find out every little detail about her. Did she snore at night? Who was this Shakespeare guy and why did she love him so much? Was she a cat or a dog person? What was her Patronus? What were her parents' names? Why were her favorite flowers violets?

"Do you see what I mean, James?"

James' head snapped up so fast he thought he heard bones popping. He stared at her, hazel eyes wide in shock.

"What?" Lily asked, frowning.

"That's the first time you've ever called me James," he said quietly.

Instantly Lily's cheeks flushed. "Yes, well, it is your name, isn't it?" she said curtly.

James nodded, his own cheeks tingeing pink.

Lily swallowed and looked away, suddenly finding the barely-visible stone wall behind several unopened boxes on her left very interesting.

"Look," James said and Lily finally heard the nerves he had covered up so well with brashness and a boisterous attitude every time he had talked to her before, "it's true that I don't know everything about you, but I want to."

Lily looked around, emerald eyes wide in surprise.

James met her gaze levelly. "I want to, Lily," he continued, his voice soft. "I want to know everything about you, what makes you happy, what makes you sad, why your favorite flowers are violets,"—Lily bit her lip stop herself from smiling—"every little detail you want me to know and the things you don't. I want you to be happy and I want to be the one who makes you happy, if at all possible. Please, just give me a chance."

Shock made Lily speechless, her arms dropped to her sides. She didn't think she had ever heard him say "please" before, at least not in the context of a completely serious request. He usually reserved such niceties for when he was trying to wheedle something out of someone, whether it be a piece of candy or, mostly in Remus' case, the homework assignment due in his next class.

Lily stared up into James' hazel eyes. There she was, stuck in a broom closet with the one boy in the school she swore she would never fall for and she couldn't bring herself to deny the rising surge of emotion in her heart. The heat in his gaze sent shivers running down her spine. Somehow as they talked they had moved closer to one another. They were standing so close now that she could feel the rise and fall of his chest against hers. The hand hanging loosely by her side barely brushed against his and yet sparks shot through her nerves from where their skin touched. She swallowed and licked her lips nervously. The movement caught James' attention and his gaze flickered down to her mouth then back up. There was a question in his eyes, one that had her stomach doing crazy gymnastic tricks, ones that involved a lot of flipping and tumbling and high flying.

James leaned down hesitantly, moving with almost painful slowness. He didn't want to scare her. He had been waiting seven years for this. His heart thumped wildly inside his ribcage, beating so loud he was sure Lily could hear it. Slowly he brought his free hand, the one not holding his wand, up from his side, just barely dragging it up Lily's arm till he gently touched her pink-tinged cheek, cupping her face in his hand. _Merlin her skin is soft_, he thought disjointedly_._ His brain was in a sort of fog, as if unable to quite comprehend what was happening. Electricity seemed to shoot through him the moment his hand touched her bare skin. Every movement he made was slow, careful, deliberate. He was so scared she would tell him to stop or yell at him or, worse, just pull away without saying anything. If she pulled away now he was sure his heart would break. This was their last year at Hogwarts before they entered the big bad world and if he couldn't win her over this year he didn't know what he would do.

His expressive hazel eyes seemed to darken as they stared down at her. With every move he made sparks of electricity travelled over her skin. Lily stayed so still she barely breathed. Some part of her, the part that had a nasty habit of sounding like Severus even after two years, was making snide comments along the lines of how stuck up James was but the other part of her was overwhelmingly larger and drowning it out. Anticipation built in her chest with each passing second and when he cradled her face in his hand she subconsciously pressed her cheek into his palm. She looked up at him, hoping her expression was able to convey all of the emotions she was feeling that were far too big for words.

He gently rubbed his thumb against her smoother-than-silk cheek. She looked so vulnerable, gazing up at him like she was, her big green eyes glowing in the dim wandlight. James was so close now he could see the barely-there freckles on her nose. He stopped, waiting. He wanted to do this right. He wanted her to choose him, for her to start this. He was putting all the power in her hands. With her decision she could crush all his hopes and dreams or make him so incandescently happy his heart would soar.

She was confused when he stopped, his lips mere inches if even that from hers. He watched her, his eyes so dark now they almost looked black. Slowly it clicked. He was waiting for her—for her to tell him yes. He didn't want to force her, he wanted to make sure that this was what she wanted too.

Without thinking Lily brought her hand up to rest on top of James's on her cheek, her eyes never leaving his. James waited breathlessly, hoping against everything all his previous years at Hogwarts had taught him concerning the breathtaking girl in front of him. Lily leaned forward, closing her eyes. James's heart skipped a beat.

* * *

Just outside the dark little room in which the Head Boy and Head Girl of Hogwarts were trapped stood two of their year- and house-mates, one boy and one girl.

"Remind me again why we put them in there?" the boy asked from his spot on the floor against the wall next to the broom closet's door.

"Seemed like fun," the girl replied with a shrug.

"Do you think they're snogging?" the boy asked, glancing at the girl where she leaned against the wall opposite the broom closet, one leg bent at the knee, foot propped up on the stone wall.

The dark skinned Inuit girl rolled her jade green eyes at her shaggy-haired companion. "Really? This is Lily we're talking about," she said. "Like my cousin would have her first kiss in a broom closet."


End file.
